Russia (MNN) — Hebrews 13:3 today calls Christians to remember imprisoned believers as if we were there with them. You can live this out today by joining Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s petition on behalf of a missionary named Park Tae-yeon and praying for her release. 

Eric Foley with VOM Korea explains that after decades of faithful service in Russia, 70-year-old Park was stopped on her way home to South Korea in January. She’s now in a Russian holding facility, facing alleged immigration charges that could carry an up to 17-year prison sentence. 

VOM Korea has ensured that Park has an attorney, a critical part of the process. 

“She says that while she’s reading her Bible daily, and she’s confident in the Lord, she just wants to come home,” says Foley. 

The charges against Park are a mask for Russia’s underlying issue: her missionary work among children. 

“That’s what happens in countries, whether it’s North Korea, China, Russia, or other countries. Rarely do you hear about religious charges,” Foley says. “Instead, what you get are charges like in China, the charges against pastors these days are that pastors are committing fraud. In Russia, a lot of charges these days relate to immigration.”

(Photo courtesy of VOM Korea)

Your advocacy can make a difference! But the how matters. Foley warns against two common mistakes Christians make when responding to persecution. 

“One is that they say nothing,” he says. “The other is that they speak so loudly and stridently that they demonize the government about whom they’re speaking.” 

Foley says that in VOM Korea’s decades of advocacy for Christian prisoners, “Not one of them has ever said, ‘I wish you would have been quiet when I was in prison.’ So we don’t need to yell and be human rights crusaders. We do simply need to tell the truth about what’s happening.”

Even the simple act of signing a petition shows a government that people around the world know what is happening and that they are willing to speak the truth about it. 

Pray especially for favor as VOM Korea delivers the signed petition to the Russian embassy very soon. 

“When you visit an embassy with a petition, they don’t welcome you in and serve you tea,” Foley says. 

“It’s an experience for which we really request a lot of prayer, because sometimes the gates get shut, sometimes the tables get turned, and the people who deliver the petitions end up being seen as the disturbers of the peace.”

 

Header photo courtesy of VOM Korea.